Nakamura, Caruana Bounce Back; Lei Joins Lead In Women's

GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana won their games in round 10 of the 2024 FIDE Candidates Tournament to inch closer to the tournament lead. Co-leaders GM Ian Nepomniachtchi and GM Gukesh Dommaraju made a draw in their game and are now chased by three players a half-point behind: Nakamura, Caruana, and GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu.

GM Lei Tingjie has won four of her last five games, this time against GM Aleksandra Goryachkina, to jump into a tie for first with GM Tan Zhongyi in the 2024 FIDE Women's Candidates Tournament. The Chinese grandmasters are a point ahead of their closest competitors, Goryachkina and GM Kateryna Lagno. 

After a rest day, round 11 will be on Wednesday, April 17, starting at 2:30 p.m. ET / 20:30 CEST / 12:00 a.m. IST.

Standings - Candidates

Standings - Women's Candidates

• • • Candidates: Americans Barge Back Into The Tournament
    • Women's Candidates: All Lei Does Is Win

Candidates: Americans Barge Back Into The Tournament

The marquee matchup was Nepomniachtchi vs. Gukesh, who co-led the tournament going into the round. The opening in this game was the first to cause a reaction from the commentators as Gukesh played the uncommon Cozio Defense of the Ruy Lopez, a deviation from his usual Berlin.

Nepomniachtchi went for what the commentators called a "two-results game," one where he would try to squeeze without taking unnecessary risks. Gukesh, unchallenged, held his own in the heavy-piece endgame. 

Gukesh said after the game: "Well, I was Black. He played a solid game and it was a fair result." 

The two decisive games were won by the American players, both of whom had suffered setbacks in recent rounds.

After a difficult loss the previous day, Nakamura repeated Nepomniachtchi's opening from round eight against GM Nijat Abasov, and it worked. After Abasov's 13...b5?, initiating an attack that was too slow, GM Peter Leko prophesized: "I don't really see Abasov surviving this, honestly."

I don't really see Abasov surviving this, honestly.

—Peter Leko

Nerves were on full display, however, as Nakamura later had to make nine moves in 11 minutes to reach move 40 and was "starting to get very nervous" about possibly even losing. Suddenly, it was Abasov who achieved an advantage, but 36...Qe7?, played after thinking for about a minute of the 18 he had left, was the game-changer that allowed Nakamura to recover.

37.Be5! is "a classic wooden shield," as he put it, and Nakamura went up the exchange and won the game.

"A huge win, a very topsy-turvy game, much like yesterday," said Nakamura. "I was not very happy with my time usage in critical moments of the game, but we do get the win."

A huge win, a very topsy-turvy game, much like yesterday.

—Hikaru Nakamura

You can listen to Nakamura's recap video below:

Both Caruana and GM Alireza Firouzja were in must-win territory if they were to have any shot at winning the tournament, so we got a sharp Sicilian Najdorf as a result. Caruana essayed the rare but dangerous 6.Rg1!? and introduced the new move 7.Bc4N.

Caruana could have gained a huge advantage right out of the opening with 14.Bxe6 fxe6 15.e5!, a tactic both players missed. But the turning point came much later, in the endgame, where Caruana started to outplay his struggling opponent. GM Rafael Leitao discusses the Game of the Day below.

After this critical victory, Caruana relaunches his climb to the top. He said: '"Everyone is having some bad moments. I had my worst moment against Hikaru in this tournament. Luckily, I'm still fighting... this win was very important for me."

 Luckily, I'm still fighting.

—Fabiano Caruana

Off the board, Firouzja's trouble with the event officials hasn't yet come to a close. His father, Hamidreza, spoke to FM Mike Klein about being escorted out of the building after he threatened to call the police in order to enter the spectator area.

Sadly, he also shared that his son told him he doesn't want to play chess anymore, after failing to defeat Nepomniachtchi from a superior position in round nine. Firouzja's fans will hope it was an emotional outburst in a stressful period and not an official declaration.

"Last night, Alireza told me, 'Dad I don't want to play chess.'"#FIDECandidates pic.twitter.com/fxlzehh8HQ

— chess24 (@chess24com) April 15, 2024

Praggnanandhaa defeated his countryman GM Vidit Gujrathi in round three, but there's really not much to say about their second encounter in round 10. It was a Berlin Defense where Praggnanandhaa traded his knight for a bishop on d6, just as Gukesh had played against him on the previous day in a similar structure. But, after that, they traded down and repeated moves just before the time control.

Six players are in contention to win this tournament with four rounds to go. After a rest day, all of them play one another, with the other game Firouzja vs. Abasov, a clash between the two players struggling the most.

Women's Candidates: All Lei Does Is Win

Tan overreached in an equal position and lost in round eight, but she didn't make that mistake again. In the Scotch Opening, GM Humpy Koneru equalized comfortably with Black and then managed to win a pawn, but the tournament leader pulled the brakes, won the pawn back a few moves later, and drew the heavy-piece endgame.

In the battle of the two players in second place, Goryachkina vs. Lei, we saw an Exchange Slav—but the modest opening didn't mean a quiet game. Lei grabbed a potentially poisoned pawn on b2, and it ultimately paid off.

"This game was, how to say, going up and going down," said Lei about a complicated endgame in which she was winning at various points but unable to find the best continuation several times. Goryachkina made her final mistake in an equal three pawns vs. knight endgame, where 61.Nxe5? dropped the half-point. 

Actually, when Lei played 60...f5, she assumed the position was just a draw. It was only after her opponent responded that she realized: "Oops, there may be some chances.... I was shocked." Lei won the miraculous ending and achieved her fourth win in the last five games.

Asked about what changed in the last five rounds, Lei said: "I thought I had no chance and there's no pressure for me." Now that she's in the tournament lead, the question is whether she'll now feel pressure and if she can keep up the stellar form. 

GM-elect Vaishali Rameshbabu looked like she was on her way to losing a fifth consecutive game, against IM Nurgyul Salimova, but she stopped the bleeding in this round. In the endgame, the Bulgarian IM found an elegant winning idea, 42.Kh2! Rc5 43.Rg2, but later collapsed when both players were left with under one minute each. Stubbornly declining an offer to repeat and draw, when the position was already equal, Salimova even lost the endgame she had dominated for so long.

Against Lagno, GM Anna Muzychuk played the somewhat unpopular—but totally sound—Open Variation of the Ruy Lopez with Black. She found a nice sequence to equalize, ending with the only move 16...c6!.

At the end, Muzychuk had two pawns against one on the kingside, but the endgame was a draw all the way through.

Both tournament leaders will have the white pieces after the rest day. Should they press for another win, or should they allow the chasing pack to take all the risks? We'll find out their gameplans on Wednesday.

 You can watch video recaps of the Candidates in our playlist below (click here).

The FIDE Candidates Tournaments are among the most important FIDE events of the year. Players compete for the right to play in the next FIDE World Championship match against current World Chess Champions GMs Ding Liren and Ju Wenjun.

Daily coverage:

• Round 9: Vidit Beats Nakamura Again, Tan Jumps Back Into Sole Lead Of Women's
• Round 8: Nakamura Leapfrogs Caruana, Gukesh Re-enters Shared Lead With Nepomniachtchi
• Round 7: Firouzja Knocks Gukesh Out Of Lead, Nepomniachtchi Heads Tournament Again
• Round 6: Tan Plays Attacking Gem In All-Decisive Day In Women's; Vidit, Praggnanandhaa Recover
• Round 5: Gukesh Joins Lead, Nepomniachtchi Survives Praggnanandhaa's Killer Preparation
• Round 4: Nepomniachtchi Defeats Vidit, Takes Sole Lead; Tan Survives Major Scare
• Round 3: Brother/Sister Comeback: Praggnanandhaa Defeats Vidit, Vaishali Finds Her Groove
• Round 2: Vidit Ends Nakamura's 47-Game Unbeaten Streak On All-Decisive Day
• Round 1: Candidates Opens With Abundance of Fighting Spirit

Previews:

• How To Watch The 2024 FIDE Candidates Tournaments
• Magnus Carlsen Ranks The Candidates Players
• Who Should You Root For In The 2024 Women's Candidates Tournament?
• Who Should You Root For In The Candidates Tournament?
• Who The Stats Say Will Be The Next World Championship Challenger
• From Trailblazers To Candidates: 10 Brilliancies Played By Women